It was estimated that 170 million people are infected with HCV worldwide, with about 3 million new infections every year. [1] In India, 12-13 million HCV carriers [2] have been identified so far; thus the diagnosis and characterization of HCV is imperative for the management of HCV disease. The DBS specimen has been found to be the best alternativeto blood derivatives for diagnosing infectious diseases. [3],[4] The present study optimized and evaluated the use of DBS specimens for anti-HCV antibody testing.

There was no difference in qualitative results between plasma and DBS specimens [Table 1]. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and efficiency of DBS specimen were found to be 100%. The overall mean OD values of DBS and plasma specimens are 1.041 and 1.439, SD (0.977; 1.31), respectively. The Mann-Whitney U test demonstrated that there was a significant difference in optical density (OD) of these specimens types for both positive (P < 0.01) and negative (P = 0.03) results. The Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) between the specimen types was 0.98 overall and was 0.98 and 0.99 for positive and negative specimens, respectively.

DBS specimens make blood collection easier with IDUs, infants and individuals with thrombosed veins, etc., and it does not require centrifugation or temperature-sensitive transport systems. In conclusion, the DBS specimens could be a reliable alternative testing specimen, which may increase HCV diagnosing opportunities for rural, remote and hard to reach regions. Furthermore, DBS specimens will ultimately be helpful for effective surveillance and field level research purposes in resource-limited settings, as the DBS eliminates many logistical and technical limitations.